Ah, but we don't know their stats. How much are they doing a year?
As for the people complaining, let me ask you one question... if you
paid for something (doesn't matter what it is, say designer shirt or
watch or perhaps a fancy dinner) and then you learned it was fake or
perhaps made from canned food, would you be unhappy and complain? or
want your money back? Would you think it was a molehill if someone
took 119 dollars of your money and you got nothing for it but
aggravation?
If you had a Picasso in your home and went to an authenticator who
said it was fake and it wasn't and you trashed it because of their
opihnion, would you be mad if someone took it out of the trash and
sold it at an auction house for 20 million? THIS is why this is so
important for them to get it right! I am not saying graphs equate to
that, but whether it's a thousand dollars or a million, it's all
relative. It's SUPER important they don't have as many mistakes as
they do.
As for feedback, I think 59 people is significant even if 10000.
However, I would definately give you the benefit of the doubt (was
your rating 99.5?). I don't like bidding on anything below 99.7 but
it will depend on how many and the comments. Someone can have a
feedback rating of 50 because they've got one bad and one good rating
total. That doesn't mean anything if the person leaving the negative
is just a jerk. You need to read it all and see why. If it's all
"slow shipping", that's not a big deal. Or one damaged item, 20 slow
shippings, 5 "slow to email", two "never got item" etc. That shows
accidents happen and most of your problem is overworked. No big deal
if I am a patient person. So customers have to be fair but you also
have to understand people are just wanting to protect themselves.
If they can't authenticate one way or another is another issue. Do
they keep your money (I actually have no clue but if they do, it's
wrong). THey need to revamp their business practices.
Those forgers come back. As in the case of andys.soulbox, he was
booted off according to the person. After a period of time he came
back under a different ID and then another and then sold stuff under a
new credit card in a relative's name. There are ways to come back.
So I'd say no, not 90% are off there. What you need to know about
criminals (I learned this in an AIB course) is that they are brazen
and really are career... that is to say they are ingenious in their
schemes, finding new ways to get around the system.
If PSA/DNA got rid of a forger that's one good thing like you say.
However, if PSA/DNA enables a forger to continue by okaying their
items, then they also did equal damage. Just my opinion.
On Wed, 14 May 2008 11:42:01 -0400, "AutographPros.com"
Post by AutographPros.comI remember when I was selling on ebay and had about 10,000 positive
feedbacks and 59 negatives. I'd get people not doing business with me
because I had 59 negatives. Those people forget that people are much more
apt to complain than to praise in many instances, and I am confident that's
the same with PSA/DNA. They have authenticated what, millions of
autographs? I can name 10 incorrect newsworthy mistakes they made, and I'd
have to imagine there are probably 20 more that are newsworthy but never
surfaced. People have to remember, PSA/DNA is a target because they
excelled above the other authenticators. They are a target by other
'self-proclaimed' experts, and they are surely a target by FORGERS! A lot
of the internet bashing that PSA/DNA has taken have been posted by forgers.
Please note, I'm not referring to any of Mr. Black's posts but I've seen
countless forger blogs that push these stories making the mountain out of
the mole hill. The forgers don't want a proven method to prove what they
are selling is bad. By peddling these few stories constantly and jumping on
every mistake, it allows them to forge and discredit all authenticators.
Also a lot of these stories are taken out of context. I don't recall a
non-profit organization (UACC) and it's Registered Dealer program ever
meeting and publicly voicing an opinion one way or the other on PSA/DNA.
That statement makes no sense to me, as no one asked me my opinion and I'm a
Registered Dealer.
I'm not one of these guys that bashes my competitors, never have. I support
them when I see good things and I am also authenticating items so in direct
competition with PSA/DNA and could easily come in and join the bandwagon.
No where near the scale they are, and I never intend to be. I just base my
judgment on what I've seen. I've probably seen over 5,000 items
authenticated by PSA/DNA and only a few times did I see items that were
'questionable' of these 5,000 items, and again this was just by a quick
review. I support what James Spence (2 or 3 newsworthy mistakes?), Rodger
Epperson, Bob Eaton, PSA/DNA, and GAI are doing, as well as my own work.
You see, when you see so many in-person autographs, it's very easy to know
the difference from the real and fakes, especially when you know when the
item was supposedly signed. It's like barefootmk pointed out about
Strickler having fake autographs of current films. His autographs looked
nothing like East or West coast examples of this year's signatures. Yes
people's signatures change, but not that significantly, and not when every
single other in-person example looks the same.
Do I disagree with PSA/DNA's work ethics, customer service, and policy
standards, absolutely. I base this on the fact that they issued COAs with
stamped signatures from authenticators that never looked at the items, and
also based on their Better Business Bureau ratings which are horrible. I
often wonder how many signatures they send back, stating it's outside of
their expertise. I can assure you I've done this with my authentication
services and refunded the payments. Outside of that, I feel they have done
great things for the hobby. Their COA is far above an average COA in my
opinion. Anyone notice how many of the big name forgers that are on the
X-list are now "No Longer A Registered User" on ebay? This means they are
kicked off and we all know why. I'd dare say 90% of those large forgers are
now off ebay and I believe it was with the help of ebay adding PSA/DNA to
it's authentication team. You may want to try contacting ebay and ask them
if PSA/DNA's 'quick opinion' had any help with the removal of these forgers?
Ask them what happens if a seller gets a few of those failed PSA/DNA Quick
Opinions. If PSA/DNA got rid of even 1 forger, they did more for the hobby
than most of us have, and that's a good thing if you ask me.